Privacy Policy

Cookies and Privacy

Privacy statement

We take User confidentiality and privacy very seriously. Because we gather certain types of information about our Users, we want to help you understand the terms and conditions surrounding the collection and use of that information. This privacy statement discloses the types of information we gather, how we use it.

Questions regarding this privacy statement, or any other aspects of our network of Web sites should be sent to the Director of Information and Promotion at the above address.

We may collect and process the following data about you:

Information that you provide by filling in forms or purchasing from our websites.

If you contact us, we may keep a record of that correspondence.

Details of transactions you carry out through our sites.

Details of your visits to our site including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data and the resources that you access.

The data that we collect from you will be stored according to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. It may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area ("EEA"). It may also be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who work for us or for one of our suppliers. By submitting your personal data, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing. We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy policy.

We use information held about you in the following ways:

To ensure that content from our site is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer.

To provide you with information, products or services that you request from us or which we feel may interest you, where you have consented to be contacted for such purposes. No marketing information will be sent to you without your prior consent.

To notify you about changes to our service.

We do not make your personally identifiable information available to other companies.

Our site may, from time to time, contain links to other websites. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites.

A cookie is a simple text file that is stored on your computer or mobile device by a website’s server and only that server will be able to retrieve or read the contents of that cookie. Each cookie is unique to your web browser. It will contain some anonymous information such as a unique identifier, the site name and some digits and numbers. It allows a website to remember things like your preferences or what’s in your shopping basket.

Most websites will use cookies in order to improve the user experience by enabling that website to ‘remember’ you, either for the duration of your visit (using a ‘session cookie’) or for repeat visits (using a ‘persistent cookie’). The Welsh Books Council websites operate in a similar way.

How are cookies used on Gwales?

Cookies on Gwales do many different tasks, like letting you navigate between pages efficiently, storing your preferences, and generally improving your experience of the site. Cookies make the interaction between you and Gwales faster and easier. If Gwales did not use cookies, it would think you were a new visitor every time you moved to a new page on the site – for example, when you enter your login details and move to another page it would not recognise you and it would not be able to keep you logged in.

Some websites will also use cookies to enable them to target their advertising or marketing messages based, for example, on your location and/or browsing habits. Gwales does NOT do this.

Cookies which are set by Gwales are called ‘first-party cookies’, while those that may be set by other websites who run content on the page you are viewing are called ‘third-party cookies’.

What to do if you don’t want cookies to be set

Some people find the idea of a website storing information on their computer or mobile device intrusive, particularly when this information is stored and used by a third party without them knowing. Although this is generally quite harmless you may not, for example, want to see advertising that has been targeted to your interests. If you prefer, it is possible to block some or all cookies, or even to delete cookies that have already been set; but you need to be aware that you might lose some functions of that website.

First-party cookies

First-party cookies are set by the website, you are visiting (in this case Gwales.com) and they can only be read by that site.

Third-party cookies

Third-party cookies are set by a different organisation to the owner of the website you are visiting. For example, the website might use a third party analytics company who will set their own cookie to perform this service. For instance, certain bibliographical pages in Gwales may also contain content embedded from, for example YouTube or Flickr, and these sites may set their own cookies.

More significantly, a website might use a third party advertising network to deliver targeted advertising on their website. These may also have the capability to track your browsing across different sites. It is important to note that advertising cookies are NOT set for visitors to the Gwales website.

Session cookies

Session cookies are stored only temporarily during a browsing session and are deleted from the user’s device when the browser is closed.

Persistent cookies

This type of cookie is saved on your computer for a fixed period (in the case of Gwales this is one year) and is not deleted when the browser is closed. Persistent cookies are used where we need to know who you are for more than one browsing session. For example, we use this type of cookie to store your preferences such as choice of language, and what you have placed in your basket, so that they are remembered for the next visit.

How does Gwales.com use cookies?

Cookies enable us to provide the search and buy service which is offered on Gwales. We use cookies that are strictly necessary to enable you to move around the site and to provide certain basic features. Without a cookie the site would not remember which language you were using to view it, or which page of the search results you were on, or what you had placed in your basket. We also use the same cookie to identify you when you have logged in to the site.

We don’t sell the information collected by cookies, nor do we disclose the information to third parties, except where required by law (for example to government bodies and law enforcement agencies).

Examples of strictly necessary cookies set by Gwales.com

Cookie name

Type

Purpose

GSID

Persistent

This cookie identifies your browser session and provides the basis for all preferences, search results, shopping basket and checkout functionality.

SID

Session

This cookie tracks the pages you visit during a session in order to provide the "back to page: x" functionality. It is removed when you close your browser.

SSID

Session

This cookie tracks the secure HTTPS pages you visit such as the "Checkout" and "My Account" sections and provides time-limited access once authenticated. It is removed when you close your browser.

utm(a-z)

Third Party

These cookies relate to Google Analytics which we use to track trends in the usage of the site in order to improve it.